Responsibility

Responsibility is a tough concept to understand. We try to teach it to kids from a young age by giving them responsibilities of their own: a pet to take care of, an allowance, chores, and so on. It's taught as something punitive, with focus on the downsides to responsibility rather than the upsides; a popular example being when a kid asks for a pet and their parent has to sit down and make it clear that a pet takes a lot of work. It feels like a scare tactic, trying to convince a child that the benefits aren't worth the trouble.

I don't think countless parents warning their children of the work involved in keeping a pet is the cause of people's general distaste for responsibilities, but the fact that parents warn children away from responsibility seems indicative of a general revulsion at the concept.

Pets

I like animals, but I never want to be a pet owner again. I've owned one pet or another for as long as I can remember, and I'm pretty sure my parents' house is still basically a zoo. Recently I started thinking about the idea of keeping pets, partially because Reid brings his dog Ruby into the office pretty regularly. I have fun with Ruby, which prompts me to reflect upon my aversion to having a pet of my own.

The Superman Complex

If there's one thing I've learned in my years as a working man, it's that if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself. Simply put, nobody does things as well or as thoroughly as I do them.

Except that's not true at all, and arrogance like that is one of my least favorite personal faults.